Why Buhari retired 17 permanent secretaries

There was a shake up in the federal civil service yesterday as President Muhammadu Buhari retired 17 permanent secretaries, appointed 18 new ones and redeployed 36 top officials.

The president met with the former permanent secretaries at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where they were informed of their retirement.

Acting Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, led them to the closed-door meeting.

The exercise is coming barely 24 hours before the inauguration of ministers expected to hold during Buhari’s first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

Although, no reason was given for their retirement, Daily Sun investigations revealed that the permanent secretaries were allegedly relieved of their posts on account of alleged fraud, which could compromise the Buhari administration’s stance on corruption and make nonsense of the government’s Change Mantra if they were retained.

A source said one of the former permanent secretaries had more than N1 billion in his bank account, while another, it was claimed had N200 million in one ac- count.

Some of them were also accused of ownership of housing estates in Abuja and elsewhere.

It was further gathered that Ita was picked from among their ranks as acting Head of Service because she was believed to be ‘clean’ among her peers.

Meanwhile, the sack of the federal permanent secretaries came as a shock to many Nigerians even though it is not the first time a gale of sack by a sitting president would spread across the federal civil ser- vice.

In 1976, the military ad- ministration of General Olusegun Obasanjo sacked notable permanent secretaries.

This exercise was also repeated in 1983 immediately after General Buhari over threw the administration of President Shehu Shagari as a result of pervading large- scale corruption, among other things in the countty.

President Buhari had on assumption of office in May this year, deployed the top civil servants maximally for state assignments, assuring them that they are the engine room of their ministries.

While many of them addressed newsmen on behalf of their ministries, a development that hitherto never happened, scores of them also accompanied the president on foreign trips.

Reacting to the development, Secretary General, Senior Staff Association of University Teaching Hospital Research Institute and Allied Institutions, Moshood Akinpelu, said Buhari’s action was in the interest of the country.

His words: “That is the policy of his administration, because he had told Nigerians that he would restruc- ture the civil service, and he is keeping to that promise.

“I will not be surprised if more permanent secretaries will go because many of them have really overstayed in the service. It is in Nigeria that you see a director retiring as a result of old age, while his permanent secretary still remain in office. So, what Buhari has done was in order and in the interest of Nigeria.

Activist and President of the Nigeria Voters Assembly, Moshood Erubami, in a telephone interview said: “The sack is a welcome development because it provides a new ground for new permanent secretaries that will assist incoming ministers.

“It is a deft political move to create new positions for those who have been wait- ing to be uplifted without hope towards sanitising the civil service and allow the new ministers to, benefit from fresh ideas the new permanent secretaries will offer.

He adds: “If the real change that Nigerians yearn for must be achieved, I think Nigeria needs the technocrats to pilot the affairs of federal agencies which are critical to the economic growth and survival.”

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